COOPERATIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL
LEARNING – AQIP ACTION PROJECT
Recommendation to the President and
Executive Cabinet of Mott Community College
November 21, 2008
3:00 p.m. / RTC 1107
Action Project Background
• Prioritization process that included Conversation Day
• Surveys of internal and external community
• Executive Cabinet, Trustee Member, and
representatives from faculty and staff agreed on the
final three at Strategy Forum May 17-20, 2006
• Action project team members were identified by
President after the strategy forum
Team Membership
Team Sponsor
Scott Jenkins
Vice President for Student and Administrative Services
Amy Fugate
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Team Members
Carlos Cisneros
Paul Rozycki
Student & Administrative Services Community Outreach & Engagement
Coordinator [team leader]
Executive Dean for the Regional Technology Center M-TEC
Social Sciences Division Faculty
Social Sciences Division Faculty
Academic Affairs secretary
Director of Workforce Development – WEC [team leader]
Social Sciences Division Faculty and Advisor
Employment Services Coordinator [team leader]
Business Division Cosmetology Program Faculty, coordinator and advisor,
[team leader]
Social Sciences Faculty
AQIP “Pit Crew”
Mike Cieslinski
Gail Ives
Steve Robinson
Student and Administrative Services Resources Coordinator
Executive Director of Institutional Research
AQIP Coordinator / Humanities Division Faculty
Tom Crampton
Becky Garske
Paul Jordan
Laurette Wright
Robert Matthews
Lillie McCain
Cindy McDaniel
Carol Nielsen
History
In 1995 an Ad Hoc CPSC committee recommended the expansion of experiential learning;
no action was taken due to new efforts to study School-to-Work Initiatives.
In November 2005 expansion of experiential education was one of the recommendations
to emerge from Conversation Day; its priority was confirmed through the various stages of
internal and external prioritization.
Experiential Education team leaders drafted a final goal statement in August, 2006 with a
target completion date of May 2009.
Training and continuous improvement was conducted by Carol Tyler late August, early
September 2006.
Between September 2006 and March 2008 the team held regular meetings, conducted
surveys and gathered relevant information pertaining to experiential education.
In April 2008 the team completes recommendations to be submitted to the president and
executive cabinet.
Vision
• Raise the expectations that all students have
relevant Experiential Ed experiences
• Explore the possibilities of documenting
Experiential Ed experiences on transcripts
• Create an institutional culture that values
Experiential Ed/Applied Learning
• Experiences aid faculty in currency of the
curriculum and engagement of the community
Project Goal
“The goal of this project is that cooperative education
and other experiential learning opportunities be
expanded in all areas of the college curriculum.”
The team defined “all areas of the college curriculum” as:
•Credit
•Non-credit
– Continuing Education/Corporate Services
– Workforce Development
Accomplishments
• Surveyed all faculty (both part-time and full-time) to
describe current experiential activities in all college
courses
• Engaged both the credit and non-credit areas of the
college in investigating and researching the topic
• Developed a rich body of web-based resources on the
team’s work processes, including meeting minutes,
agendas, resources from other institutions, etc. on the
central AQIP web site; demonstrations of these webbased resources to internal college groups including
supervisors, managers, etc.
Accomplishments
• Defined terms related to experiential education,
curriculum, co-op, etc.
• Produced an inventory of credit courses with co-op,
internship, externship, and practicum experiences
• Began to inventory non-credit experiential opportunities
and external relationships and sources for experiential
education
• Discussed the need for a “clearinghouse” to match students
(credit, non-credit, Workforce Development, and
Continuing Ed) with opportunities
• Reviewed the recommendations submitted to CPSC in 1995
by the ad-hoc Experiential Learning Committee and found
many similarities between our analysis and the 1995
recommendations.
• Positive AQIP Reviewer comments in 2007 & 2008.
Definitions
• Need was identified for a common lexicon of
terms related to experiential education,
cooperative learning, etc.
• Broad review was conducted to identify the
various terms that define the concept of
experiential education
• Initial collection of working definitions was
compiled
Definitions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Apprenticeships: Combined work and education experience with an employer.
Clinicals: Course(s) which provide a supervised clinical experience in an approved
medical setting.
Co-op: A course that allows a student to work in a job related to the student’s
program of study.
Experiential Learning: Learning through experience, either in a real situation, such
as a workplace, or in a role play or simulated environment.
Externship: May or may not be compensated, not an employee of the company,
purely educational but do not receive college credit.
Field Work: Course(s) which provide the student with the opportunity to
demonstrate competency in the classroom. Practical work experience in an
agency or organization. Field experiences intended to provide students with real
world work experiences and contact with working professionals.
Internship: May or may not be compensated, students work for an employer for a
specified period of time to learn about a particular industry, occupation or skill set.
Definitions
•
•
•
•
•
•
Job Shadowing: A student follows an employee at a company location to learn
about a particular occupation or industry. Used most often to gain information
about an occupation.
Mentoring: An employee who possesses the skills and knowledge to be mastered
by a student, and who instructs the student.
Practicum: A course of study designed especially for the preparation of teachers
and clinicians that involves the supervised practical application of previously
studied theory
Project-Based Co-op: Learning experience that provides students the opportunity
to work on specific, short-term projects from an employer in conjunction with their
academic program.
Service Learning: A method of teaching, learning and reflecting that combines
academic classroom curriculum with meaningful community service.
Work Study: A federal or state-funded program that allows students to work on
campus to gain valuable work experience and earn money for expenses, preferably
in program of study.
Survey Results
•61 faculty participated in this survey
•93 Course/sections were identified as having an experiential component
• The following shows the distribution of how each faculty member classifies
their course
17
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
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15
11
9
10
8
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15
*Each course could have more than one selection
Survey Results
Distribution by Division
Business
18%
9%
4%
4%
18%
Counseling
Fine Arts
Health Science
Humanities
28%
9%
Information Technology
Social Science
10%
Technology
Recommendations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
President and/or his designee should be responsible for
administration and oversight of the recommended position and
the Experiential Learning Office.
Create and maintain a clearinghouse for standardized
management of information related to faculty, staff, student, and
employer/community stakeholder needs.
Create and fund a position to develop, manage, and coordinate
existing resources and facilitate new opportunities for
cooperative education and experiential learning.
Allocate the appropriate physical space and equipment to
support the effective functioning of the Experiential Learning
Office.
Transition the AP Team into a “resource council” who will be
empowered to provide ongoing guidance, advice and support to
the Experiential Learning Office.
1. Presidential Level
•There needs to be a clear administrative
responsibility at the executive level.
•This will acknowledge an institutional
responsibility to involve all areas of the
institution, including Academic Affairs and
Student & Administrative Services
2. Clearinghouse Function
3. Provide Human Resources/Position
Experiential education for our students requires
a champion to promote, maintain and expand
opportunities. Our proposed solution requires a
resource person dedicated to this purpose who
will:
•Build and manage relationships throughout the
college and community
•Provide technical support to faculty, staff and
students
•Initiate new applied learning initiatives
•Apply expertise and marketing skills
4. Space Allocation
•Readily accessible to staff and students
•Access to adequate and appropriate
administrative and staff support
•Provide appropriate furnishings and equipment
5. Experiential Education
“Resource Council”
Transition the Cooperative and Experiential
Education Team into a “resource council” who
will be empowered to provide ongoing guidance,
advice and support to the Experiential Learning
Office.
What We Are Asking For
Approve the creation of a position and office charged with the development,
management, coordination, and evaluation of existing and future applied
learning arrangements in all areas of the curriculum.
1
Identify area
for
improvement
2
Define
current
situation
3
Analyze
current
situation
4
Develop
improvement
theory
5
6
Implement Monitor
best
results
strategies
7
Adjust,
standardize,
or plan
further
Links to MCC Strategic
Plan 2007-2012 & HLC Accreditation
This project impacts all three student oriented strategic
goals
Student Learning & Success
1.1 Utilize research and development to proactively enhance
curriculum to meet demands of students and employers.
1.2 Focus, align and integrate organizational efforts across
academic, student service, continuing education and workforce
development, to support student learning.
1.3 Coordinate curriculum and services across all sites to create
learning-centered environments that offer all students an
opportunity to succeed.
23
Links to MCC Strategic
Plan 2007-2012 & HLC Accreditation
Other strategic objectives
Systems Improvement
3.1 Develop comprehensive cross-functional improvement processes that enable us to
respond quickly to changes in the external environment while simultaneously making
existing operations faster, smarter, cheaper, and of the same or higher quality.
3.2 Using AQIP principles and practices ensure that improvement processes and
communication between all sectors of the college start with community and student
needs and end with student success.
Economic Development
4.1 MCC programs and services will be directly related to the labor market needs of our
region and we will continuously analyze and prepare for emerging economic challenges
and opportunities.
4.2 Expand our capacity to be involved and responsive to local, regional and state plans for
economic growth and align our resources and assets to enhance the viability of the
community.
Institutional Image & Community Relations
6.1 Continue to have a positive presence in the community by engaging community partners
24
to better meet area educational needs.
Links to MCC Strategic
Plan 2007-2012 & HLC Accreditation
Higher Learning Commission Criteria for Accreditation
Criterion Five: Engagement and Service
As called for by its mission, the organization identifies its
constituencies and serves them in ways both vale
•
•
•
•
The organization learns from the constituencies it serves and
analyzes its capacity to serve their needs and expectations
The organization has the capacity and the commitment to
engage with its identified constituencies and communities
The organization demonstrates its responsiveness to those
constituencies that depend on it for service
Internal and external constituencies value the service the
organization provides
25
In Summary
•
•
•
•
AQIP Priority
Aligned with Strategic Plan
Aligned with HLC Criterion
Creates system to support student
experiential learning
• Requires Executive Cabinet action
Thank You
Questions?